Calgary has a number of movie festivals every year, covering the gamut of silver screen options. While the 15th long-running Calgary Underground Film Festival has already come and gone for the year, the 20th Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival and 10th Hidden Gems Film Festival are happening right now, the upcoming 11th Sled Island has a film component, later in the year the 19th Calgary International Film Festival and the 43rd Banff Mountain Film Festival take their bow, and the year rounds out with the CUFF.DOCS Documentary Film Festival in November. But most of those require pre-paid passes or cash. Coming up this weekend we have a film festival featuring that tastiest of all possible prices, FREE! Yes, CalgaryMovies.com present the 20th Anniversary One Day Film Festival, with free admission (donations accepted of course, but not required). And no, it’s not called a one day film festival because it’s only one day long, the challenge to the film makers is to shoot an entire movie in just one day. You can check it out Saturday June 2nd at the Globe Cinema, 617 8 Ave SW from 2:30-9:30 pm. Ans as they say, “bring a friend!”

…I Wonder Where My Coffee Is?

Why, it’s right here, at the Purple Perk! Yep, we have all the deep, dark, delicious, jitter-inducing (or not, as you prefer) caffeinated goodness you could like. And as you ponder over your tasty beverage, you may ask yourself, how did I get here¹, and you may ask yourself, how do I work this²; and you may ask yourself, where does that highway go³; and you may ask yourself, am I right or am I wrong⁴; and you may ask yourself, where is this coffee from⁵?

1. Along Fourth Street, in Mission, in Calgary.
2. Lift it to your mouth and imbibe.
3. All roads lead to Perk.
4. Yes.
5. Well! Where is this coffee from? We are proud to say we get our coffee from Big Mountain Coffee Roasters. Based right here in Calgary, they offer eighteen different roasts, including four different espresso blends. With their expert roasting help, we have you covered, from sweet Sumatran to rich Peruvian, decaf, and more!

For those of us used to bombing up and down 5th Street to avoid the stoplights and foot traffic of 4th Street SW, be prepared to hold your horses, bucko. Northbound lanes will be closed from March 26th to 28th, 2018, and 5A Street SW will be closed March 29th to 30th in both directions, affecting your ability to avoid the “no left turn” off northbound 5th onto Royal Avenue during peak afternoon traffic. Water line and fire hydrant work are the given reasons.

To make your life even more amusing, The Red Mile, 17th Ave SW, will be completely closed at Western, between 5th Street and College Lane, from April until done, with a break for Stampede. And yeah, that mess from last year closing 17th along the stretch with the Shell station and the Ship will return until at least the end of June.

Don’t let all this construction wind you up though, drop into the Perk for a nice, cool Mocha Shake and shake it off. Yes, we went there… 😉

The Cliff Bungalow Mission area offers plenty of distractions. The Mission stretch of 4th Street SW alone has numerous bars, restaurants and coffee shops full of shiny things and shiny people to catch your attention. But what if you just want a social night out, and don’t want to get tipsy or wired while doing it? Well, the ever-busy Cliff Bungalow-Mission Community Association has Board Game Night once a month, usually on the third or fourth Saturday. You are invited to bring your favourite board games, or just show up and play someone else’s. Haul along your own snacks, or bring some from the Perk, and beverages are cheap, which all in all makes for an inexpensive and entertaining Saturday night out. You don’t need a membership, and there’s no cover charge, so get out and get your dice (or cards) a-rollin’!

TANSTAAFL. There Ain’t Nothin’ So Tasty As A Fresh Launch!

I hope you don’t mind us riffing on an old saying, but that’s just how we roll!

We are proud, pleased, and pumped to pronounce the Purple Perk is pushing out a presumptuously pert presentation of our presence online. The first of March marks the soft launch of our revamped webiste. The old site was fabulous, fine and fully dated. Not the “hot time at the Perk last night” dated, the “dayamn that looks so pre-smartphone” dated. Now it is all-new and improved! With new-car smell!

We rejigged it to be easier to navigate on the phone or a computer, prettier to look at, funnier to read, and for the first time, capable of taking your catering orders online. So please poke around and see what you think. Here’s our regular menu, here’s our catering menu, here’s where you can find out more about us, and here’s where we are.

Welcome to our new home on the web. Cheers!